The field of the invention relates generally to coffee makers and more particularly, to disposable cups used in connection with brewing coffee.
Numerous types of coffee makers are known, including percolator and electric drip type coffee makers. With a percolator type coffee maker, fresh coffee grounds typically are measured out in scoopfuls and placed into a metal percolator basket. The basket rests within a pot that holds water. As the water is heated in the pot, the water is forced through a metal tube and into the brew basket containing the coffee grounds. The hot water drains through the coffee grounds and brew basket, and drips back into a lower portion of the pot.
With such known percolators, small amounts of coffee grounds may leak into the fresh coffee. In addition, wet grounds are left in the percolator basket, and cleaning such wet grounds from the basket can be tedious.
For an electric drip type coffee maker, fresh coffee grounds are held in a paper filter in a brew basket mounted below a spray head. Water in a cold water reservoir is heated and moves through the machine onto the coffee from the spray head. The coffee passes through the filter and drips down into a coffee pot.
The wet paper filter and wet coffee grounds are removed from the brew basket when brewing is complete. The weight of the wet grounds may cause the filter to collapse and the grounds to spill. Cleaning up wet coffee grounds can be tedious.
In addition, many known coffee makers, including the coffee makers described above, typically are used to brew multiple cups of coffee. The taste of the coffee depends at least in part on the amounts of water and coffee used, as well as the freshness of the coffee. With such known coffee makers, the amount of water and coffee used generally depends on the experience of the user. Also, the freshness of the coffee can vary widely, depending in part on how long the coffee grounds have been stored and the manner in which the coffee grounds have been stored. Further, if only a single serving of coffee is desired, this can lead to waste of fresh coffee grounds, water, and energy.
Single serve coffee makers are known. Such single, or individual, serve coffee makers typically utilize a single serve fresh coffee ground container and the brewed coffee is dispensed directly into a coffee cup. The fresh coffee ground container typically facilitates sealing the coffee grounds in the container until use, so that the coffee grounds are fresh.
In connection with brewing coffee, the individual coffee container is punctured on the top and on the bottom so that hot water can flow into the container onto the coffee, and brewed coffee can flow out of the container. The coffee container therefore should withstand the hot temperature of the hot water without deforming or collapsing, as well as have sufficient strength to withstand being punctured without being crushed. In addition, the coffee container should not be so expensive to fabricate and seal so as to drive the price of using a single serve coffee maker beyond the reach of ordinary consumers. In order to meet the structural and cost objectives set forth above, typically single serve coffee container are fabricated using polystyrene plastics.
As explained above, single serve coffee containers are configured to be used once and then discarded. Polystyrene plastic, however, is not as environmentally friendly and has a high carbon foot print, as compared to other types of plastics.